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BILLY BERK 



Billy thought the pile of clean straw was just the 

place for a nap. 
































































































BILLY BERK 

The Story of a Berkshire Pig 


By 

JOHN Y. BEATY 

\ > 

Drawings by 

DON NELSON 

V 

f > 1 » 


THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

1930 


I, 


O. 












VZ\* 

*£>\ 


Copyright, 1930, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

Chicago 



Printed in United Steles of America 



©CIA 



29104 



CONTENTS 


I How Billy Got His Name 7 

II How We Understood Billy's Language 9 

III A Surgical Operation 12 

IV Billy Receives a Lesson in Neatness 16 

V Can a Little Pig be a Sailor? 19 

VI Billy Has a Terrible Loss 25 

VII It’s Easier to Get In Than Out of a Hole 29 
VIII A Pile of Straw That Turned Into a Pig 33 

IX When Billy Disobeyed 38 

X A Miracle Saves Billy's Life 45 

XI A Little Pig Lost in the Woods 52 

XII A Queer Trap Excites the Barnyard 56 

XIII Billy Makes a Railroad Trip 59 






Chapter I 


HOW BILLY GOT HIS NAME 

F IRST, I must tell you that Billy Berk is a little 
Berkshire pig. He was born on our farm in 
Central Illinois, on a cold February morning. 
When I found him cuddled up close to his mother 
in the clean straw, his little black body glistened and 
when I picked him up, he was as smooth as silk. 

Any little boy or girl who could have seen him 
that morning would have loved him almost as much 
as a baby brother. His little body was beautiful. It 
was so symmetrical and plump and his pretty little 
head with the ears sticking straight up and his nose 
tipped with white was just the kind of a head you 
would like to place close to your face. 

Billy’s body was all black except for the white 
around his nose, a white tip on his tail and white 
around each ankle. 

At the time Billy Berk was born, my little daugh¬ 
ter, Roberta, was only 3 years old. But she loved to 
play with the Berkshire pigs as much as other chil¬ 
dren like to play with a fluffy white kitten. 

Perhaps you will smile when I tell you how Billy 
got his name. You will understand, of course, that 


% 





8 


BILLY BERK 


“Berk” is simply an abbreviation of Berkshire. 
Berkshire is the name of the breed to which Billy 
belonged. But you will not know unless I tell you 
why we called him Billy. 

On a neighboring farm lives a little boy by the 
name of William Hausam. William very often came 
through the meadow over to our farm to play with 
Roberta. 

But William’s daddy did not call him William. 
He called him “Billy.” And so, of course, Roberta 
called him Billy. Billy Hausam was such a bright, 
active little fellow that when Roberta saw the new 
baby pig which I brought to her in the yard, his 
bright eyes, his erect ears, and his active disposition 
reminded Roberta of Billy Hausam. 

When I asked her what she wanted to call the new 
pig, she immediately said, “Billy.” So Billy he was 
named. But in order to distinguish between Billy 
Hausam, Roberta’s little playmate, and Billy, the 
pig, we called him Billy Berk. 



Chapter II 


HOW WE UNDERSTOOD BILLY’S 
LANGUAGE 

A S LONG as I knew Billy Berk, he said only 
two words. But still with those two words he 
expressed all of his feelings and his mother 
and little brothers and sisters understood all that he 
said. 

After a while I began to understand what he said 
too. For although he used only two words, those 
two words were said in many different ways and 
meant many different things. 

The reason we think that pigs have only two 
words in their language is because that is all we can 
write. Pigs do not have a written language as we 
do, and so we think, as we listen to their conversa¬ 
tions, that they have only two words. 

Those two words are “Ugh,” and “OO-ee-ee-ee ” 
It is difficult to explain what these two words 
mean because each word means many different 
things. For example, when Billy was eating his din¬ 
ner, he would frequently say “Ugh,” and that meant, 
“My, but this dinner is good.” 

When Billy crawled through a hole in the fence 
one day and later tried to get back into his grassy 

















10 


BILLY BERK 


lot, he said “Ugh” But that time the word meant 
“Where in the world is that hole in the fence.” 

While we must spell these words in the same way, 
they really were said in a very different way, and as 
I have explained, meant very different things. 

When Billy’s mother is angry with him she says 
“Ugh” and she means, “You naughty boy! Why 
don’t you mind your mother?” But the way she 
says it sounds very much different from the way 
Billy says “Ugh” when he is eating his dinner. 

Perhaps I can explain the difference in these 
words to you in this way: 

Suppose your mother has given you a present— 
something that you have wanted for a long, long 
time. In appreciation for this present, you say, 
“Mother.” 

Now suppose that your mother is on the other side 
of the street and someone has called her on the tele¬ 
phone. You answer the telephone and then go to 
the door and say the same word, “Mother.” You 
say it in a very different way, don’t you, and it means 
a very different thing from the word you use when 
you are expressing your appreciation for a gift. 

Now suppose that you want very much to go 
across the street to play with some of your little 
friends. You have asked you mother for permission 
and she does not seem to want you to go. You say 
“Mother” in a way to make her understand that you 


HOW WE UNDERSTOOD BILLY 


ii 


want very much to go. But that word is a very 
different one and has a very different meaning from 
the same word used to call her to the telephone. 

Don’t you begin to understand now how Billy 
uses the same word “Ugh” to mean many different 
things? 

When Farmer John comes down the lane with a 
nice pail of fresh buttermilk and Billy sees him com¬ 
ing, he says “OO-ee-ee-ee.” That means, “Hurry up, 
Farmer John and let me have some of that nice fresh 
buttermilk.” 

When the dog chases Billy, Billy also says “OO-ee- 
ee-ee,” but that does not mean, “Hurry up, Farmer 
John and bring the buttermilk.” “It means, “Moth¬ 
er, mother, come quickly. Chase this dog away.” 

Don’t you see now how little pigs can talk by 
using only two words and still say all that they have 
to say? 

I learned their language by watching them for 
many years. Some days I would go into their pens 
and lie down with them on their beds of clean bright 
straw. And if I lay real still, they would come up 
to me and poke their cold little noses under my head 
and say “Ugh.” That meant, “Roll over, and let me 
lie down in the bed your head has made.” 

As you read the stories of Billy Berk, you will learn 
some of the other meanings of the two words in the 
pig language, “Ugh” and “OO-ee-ee-ee^” ^ 


Chapter III 


A SURGICAL OPERATION 

W HEN Billy was only two weeks old, he was 
sleeping comfortably one day under the 
clean pile of straw in the corner of the hog 
house. His mother was outside, but his brothers and 
sisters were all sleeping in the straw. 

Billy was suddenly awakened by a noise. Some¬ 
one had quickly closed the door of the house. Billy 
jumped up, shook the straw from his head, and 
looked around. Farmer John was sitting on the 
floor beside him. 

Billy was a little startled, but he was not fright¬ 
ened because Farmer John had been very kind to 
him. He did not begin to squeal until Farmer 
John picked him up. 

Little pigs always squeal when they are picked up. 
They do not enjoy being held as little kittens do 
and while they do not squeal because they are seri¬ 
ously frightened, they squeal in a way to indicate that 
they are not entirely comfortable. 

In other words, the Oo-ee-ee in this case means, 
“I would rather be on the floor.” 

Farmer John held Billy under his left arm. In his 


12 


A SURGICAL OPERATION 


*3 


right hand, he had a bright instrument. Of course, 
Billy did not know what this was. Farmer John 
held Billy’s nose between two of his fingers and with 
his thumb and forefinger held one of Billy’s cars. 

Suddenly Billy felt a sharp pain in his ear, and he 
squealed louder. This time the Oo-ee-ee meant 
“Ouch, that hurts.” 

Then Farmer John shifted Billy in his arms and 
held the opposite ear with his fingers. Billy began 
to struggle and Farmer John held him more tightly. 
Then Billy felt another sharp pain, this time in the 
other ear. 

He squealed “Oo-ee-ee” even louder than before. 
This time “Oo-ee-ee” meant, “Say, Farmer John, 
isn’t once enough? Don’t you hurt me any more.” 

But again Billy felt a sharp pain. 

Finally, Farmer John put Billy down on the floor 
and Billy quickly scampered to the opposite corner 
and stood there with his head hanging down with 
blood dripping from both ears. Billy had been expe¬ 
riencing his first operation. It was a surgical opera¬ 
tion and was necessary to protect Billy’s good name. 

Farmer John had cut notches in each of Billy’s 
ears. One notch in the left ear and two notches in 
the right ear. Of course, Billy had no idea what this 
was for, but all little pigs that have purebred parents 
and have a pedigree of their own as Billy had, must 
have these notches cut in their ears in order that 



BILLY BERK 


*4 

they may be recognized and not be mixed with other 
pigs. 

A pedigree is a long list of the names of all of the 
ancestors of a pig and this long list is guaranteed to 
be correct by a record association which makes a 
business of keeping records of all purebred pigs that 
are registered. 

If you will look at a litter of pigs the next time 
you have an opportunity, you will see what a difficult 
task it is to tell one from the other. When you 
realize that Farmer John had 300 pigs, each one with 
a different pedigree, you will understand how nec¬ 
essary it is to mark each pig so that he can be told 
from all the others. 

The mark in Billy’s left ear indicated a number 
and the mark in Billy’s right ear indicated another 
number. 

Farmer John used a system of numbering that 
makes it possible to mark any pig with any number 
desired by varying the number of notches in each 
car and by varying the position of the notches. 

The notches are made in a little pig’s ear with a 
special tool and numbers from one to ten can be 
indicated by making not more than three notches 
in either car. 

Notches in the left ear indicate from one to ten, 
and notches in the right ear indicate numbers over 
ten. That is, the notch that indicated one in the left 


A SURGICAL OPERATION 


*5 


car meant five. The notch that indicated two in the 
right ear meant 20. If a pig’s number were 25, the 
number indicating 20 is punched in the right car 
and the number indicating five is punched in the 
left ear.. 

These notches remain in a pig’s ear as long as he 
lives, and so it is always possible to tell one pig from 
another. 

Following his first surgical operation, Billy stood 
quietly in the corner of his house with his head hang¬ 
ing down. 

When his little brothers and sisters had all been 
taken care of in the same way, Farmer John opened 
the door. But the little pigs were not so lively the 
rest of the day. However, following that day they 
were just as full of life and fun as ever. 

On this very day, Billy had his name entered in 
Farmer John’s big book and a record of the mark¬ 
ings on his ears was made. Farmer John a little later 
sent an application to the Berkshire Registry Asso¬ 
ciation and later on received an official document 
indicating that Billy was a registered purebred pig. 

That added a great deal to Billy’s value. It did 
not add any to Billy’s pride, because he had about all 
of the pride a little pig could have. He always car¬ 
ried his head erect and his ears straight in the air, 
and his pretty little white tipped feet were lifted 
somewhat like a race horse. 



Chapter IV 


BILLY RECEIVES A LESSON IN NEATNESS 


I T HAD been raining for two or three days, and 
then the weather had suddenly turned hot. The 
yard near Billy Berk’s house was a mud puddle. 
Billy became so warm that he lay down in the mud 
and wallowed. He rolled from one side to the other, 
shoved his little white nose under the mud and water 
and the result was that he looked almost like a mud 



pie. 

After he had played in the mud for some time and 
had rooted and wallowed and rolled to keep himself 
cool, he came into the house. He was tired and he 
wanted to sleep in the nice, clean straw in the cor¬ 
ner. He was just ready to put his little nose under 
the straw and make a bed for himself when his 
mother seeing him, grunted loudly and came toward 
him. 

“Ugh, ugh, ugh,” she said. That meant, “You 
naughty pig. You must not crawl into the bed 
when you are all covered with mud.” Billy was not 
real sure just what it meant, because he was very 
young and had not learned this particular lesson. 

Perhaps you did not know that pigs are very par- 























BILLY RECEIVES A LESSON 


i7 


ticular about keeping their beds clean. If their house 
is big enough and they have sufficient room, pigs are 
naturally cleanly and want to keep their beds as clean 
and as bright as possible. 

Billy’s mother knew that she must teach him a 
lesson. So, when he paid no attention to her and 
started to lie down, she put her big nose under Billy’s 
little dirty body and with a mighty push threw him 
against the side of the house. 

Billy was almost stunned and he stood for a min¬ 
ute after he regained his feet trying to determine 
what to do. 

His mother kept a watchful eye on him and when 
he started back to the bright straw bed again, she 
put her nose under him again. This time she was 
not quite so rough, but she pushed him away from 
the bed. 

Billy really did not know just what his mother 
wanted. But very soon his mother showed him. She 
walked up to the side of the hog house, leaned her 
big black body against a post that was a part of the 
wall and rubbed her body up and down against this 
post. Then she moved ahead a step or two and 
rubbed again. 

As she did this, Billy watched and he realized that 
he was covered with mud and he soon understood 
that the “ugh, ugh, ugh” of his mother meant “Clean 
your dirty body against the post as I do.” 





















i8 


BILLY BERK 


So Billy walked up to the post and rubbed his body 
along the edge of it. Then he turned around and 
rubbed his body on the other side. Each time he 
brushed against the post, mud fell off. 

After a bit he thought perhaps he had cleaned 
himself sufficiently, but his mother was not satisfied 
and she saw to it that Billy rubbed himself until the 
mud was all cleaned away. 

There was still mud on Billy’s little white nose 
and Billy rubbed it under the trough in which Farmer 
John fed the pigs until that too was cleaned. 

Then his mother allowed him to lie down in the 
clean, bright straw. In this way his bed was kept 
clean. 

This is a lesson that all little pigs must learn just 
the same as all little boys and girls. Isn’t it strange 
that both little pigs and little children at first dislike 
the responsibility of keeping themselves clean. After 
they have learned the lesson, they realize it is very 
much better to be clean than to be dirty. 





Chapter V 


CAN A LITTLE PIG BE A SAILOR? 


I T WAS in the spring of the year. It had rained 
almost every day for two weeks. Down back of 
the barn was a small stream which ordinarily 
was not very deep. But the rain had swollen the 
stream until it was a large river. 

Billy was wandering around in the pasture through 
which the stream ran, one day, and it so happened 
that a big barn door had floated down the stream and 
was caught in some bushes at the bank. Right in the 
center of this barn door was part of an car of corn. 
You would hardly expect that a little pig like Billy 
Berk could resist the temptation to go after that 
corn, would you ? Well, Billy was not good at resist¬ 
ing temptations, and sure enough he jumped onto 
the door to get the corn. 

He had not quite reached the corn when the barn 
door began to move. Billy’s weight had loosened it 
from the bank and it started floating down the 
stream. Billy saw the bank of the stream getting 
farther and farther away. He became frightened. 
He forgot all about the corn. 

He ran first to one side of the door and then to the 





20 


BILLY BERK 


other. And on all sides he found nothing but water. 
The water was black and looked very deep and Billy 
did not like the idea of trying to swim. Small pigs 
can swim, but they do not enjoy it and it is not very 
often that a little pig like Billy will jump into the 
water if he can avoid it. 

So Billy ran back and forth on his raft and 
squealed and grunted and grunted and squealed, but 
every minute he was being carried farther away from 
home. Billy wondered if there was anything he 
could do to make the barn door go to the side of 
the stream where he could jump off onto the dry 
land. But he could not think of anything. In fact, 
I doubt that there was anything that Billy could have 
done to have saved himself. 

Billy floated on and passed the next farm. Then 
he floated under a big bridge. But the barn door 
stayed near the center of the stream and Billy was 
sailing farther and farther away from home. 

Finally, the raft came to a turn in the stream and, 
the current being very strong, the raft was driven 
against the bank. Billy was ready for just such an 
occurrence and running rapidly to that edge of his 
raft that was caught in the bank, he jumped off onto 
land and ran as fast as he could away from the 
stream. 

Unfortunately for Billy, he was on the wrong side 
of the stream. His home was on the opposite bank, 



Billy ran bac\ and forth on his raft and squealed 
and grunted and grunted and squealed. 


21 








22 


BILLY BERK 


but it was a long way from where he was. As a 
matter of fact, Billy did not have any idea as to 
where his home was. He did not know which way 
to go and so he ran and ran without thinking at all 
in what direction he was running. 

He finally came to a fence and ran along this until 
he came to a barn yard. Inside the barn yard he saw 
other pigs and as he squealed the other pigs answered 
him and came toward him. But they were on one 
side of the fence and Billy was on the other, so he 
received little comfort from them. 

The noise Billy made as well as the noise made by 
the other pigs attracted the farmer and he came out 
of the house and discovered Billy running along the 
fence making a great commotion. As you know, 
Billy was a very attractive pig. He had a beautiful 
white nose with little white feet and a white tip on 
his tail and his little body was smooth and round and 
a glossy black. 

The strange farmer was very much attracted by 
Billy and he came up to him quietly with the idea 
of catching him and putting him over into the pen 
with his own pigs. But Billy was not anxious to be 
caught. So he dodged and ran, squealing all the 
time. 

Finally the farmer secured a hurdle. Perhaps you 
do not know what a hurdle is. It is made something 
like a wooden gate only it is usually smaller and 

__ 






















CAN A LITTLE PIG BE A SAILOR? 


23 


made.of lighter lumber. It is used to place in front 
of a pig to drive him one way or the other. When 
the pig starts to come toward the farmer, the* farmer 
sets the hurdle in front of him. That sends the pig 
in the other direction. 

By using this hurdle, the farmer drove Billy into 
the barn and finally into the yard with his own pigs. 

Naturally, Billy was given much attention by the 
other pigs. They all came around and Billy slunk 
into a corner, not knowing whether the strange pigs 
would be friendly or not. Billy was very homesick. 
He wanted to be back in the grassy lot on Farmer 
John’s farm. 

Finally, the farmer realized that he had seen Billy 
before. It was on a certain occasion when this farmer 
was passing Farmer John’s place and Billy was in a 
lot next to the road. So the strange farmer went to 
his house and called Farmer John on the phone. He 
asked him if he had lost one of his pigs. Farmer 
John said, “Well, now, perhaps I have. I haven’t 
missed one yet, but if it is a Berkshire it probably 
is mine.” 

The strange farmer described Billy to Farmer 
John and it was not long until Farmer John came 
with his truck and put Billy inside and took him 
back to his lot. 

Billy’s brothers and sisters were very much excited 
when Billy returned. He told them the story of his 


24 


BILLY BERK 


trip with many grunts and squeals, and then he 
crawled under the straw for a long nap. 

Billy was very much convinced that he could not 
be a successful sailor and he stayed away from the 
bank of the stream for a long time, because he did 
not want to run the risk of being carried away onto 
a strange farm again. 



Chapter VI 


BILLY HAS A TERRIBLE LOSS 

B ILLY BERK was sleeping comfortably one 
warm summer afternoon. He lay in his house 
with his nose under the straw. That is the 
way little pigs like to sleep. When their noses are 
out of sight, they think they are properly covered. 

Little pigs sleep during the day as well as at night. 
Usually Billy Berk goes to sleep after every meal. 
He may sleep for half an hour, and then run back 
to the trough to eat more food. 

Well, on this particular afternoon, his little white- 
tipped tail happened to be hanging through a hole 
in the floor of his house. Of course, Billy did not 
know that. 

After he had snored loudly for about five min¬ 
utes, he awoke with a squeal, and jumped to his feet. 
He blinked his eyes, shook his pretty little head, and 
looked around. But he saw nothing unusual, and 
he really didn’t know what had awakened him. 

So he lay down again, this time rooting his little 
brother over so that he might get his nose under the 
straw again. Strange to say, his tail again dropped 
through that same hole in the floor. 



25 


26 


BILLY BERK 


Billy had slept for about five minutes when he 
awoke once more with a start. 

This time he knew what the trouble was. Some¬ 
thing had a tight hold on his tail. Whatever it was, 
it had sharp teeth. Billy squealed as loudly as he 
could squeal. And he pulled as hard as he could 
pull. But those sharp teeth did not let go. 

Poor Billy! 

His little brothers and sisters awoke and ran 
around him sympathizing with their grunts. But 
still the sharp teeth held to Billy’s tail. 

His mother came and with many loud grunts, 
rushed about the room. But still those sharp teeth 
hung onto poor Billy’s tail. 

All this time, Billy was pulling with all his might. 
Finally, his mother put her big strong nose under 
Billy’s little body and gave him a mighty push. 

Billy was free. And he ran around the house as 
though something were chasing him. 

His mother made a great commotion. And by 
now, all of his little brothers and sisters were squeal¬ 
ing as loudly as their little lungs would let them 
squeal. 

Farmer John happened to be going by and heard 
the noise. He went to the hog house. When he 
kneeled down to go inside Billy’s mother would not 
let him in. Finally Billy, in his excitement, dashed 
out the door and right into Farmer John’s arms. 



BILLY HAS A TERRIBLE LOSS 


27 


His little heart was beating rapidly. Farmer John 
could feel it through his shiny black side. 

Of course Farmer John did not know what had 
happened. So he began to examine Billy, and what 
do you suppose he found. Billy’s tail had been bitten 
off! Not the whole tail, just the white tip—for, you 
know, a little Berkshire’s tail is black to within about 
an inch from the end, and this part is pure white. 

Poor Billy! 

Now his tail was all black. The white tip was 
entirely gone. 

Farmer John could not guess how this had hap¬ 
pened. So he crawled into the house on his hands 
and knees and looked all around. Finally his finger 
slipped into the hole in the floor. He looked, and 
there on the sides of the hole, he saw blood, and on 
the ground right beneath the hole he saw some of 
the white hairs that had been a part of Billy’s tail a 
few minutes before. 

But still Farmer John did not know what had 
happened. The hole was too big for a pig’s tail to 
get caught in it. And the sides of the hole were 
as smooth as could be. 

While Farmer John sat there wondering what to 
do, a brown fur-covered animal brushed past the 
hole. It stopped, leaving its long tail lying on the 
ground just under the hole. 

Then Farmer John knew what had happened. A 






28 


BILLY BERK 


big rat had taken hold of Billy’s tail with his sharp 
teeth, and when Billy’s mother had rooted him, the 
rat had bitten off the tip. 

Farmer John did not like to have Billy’s appear¬ 
ance ruined in that way any more than Billy or his 
mother did. So he quickly made up his mind that 
he would put an end to such things. 

He carefully reached through the hole in the floor, 
and grasped Mr. Rat’s tail firmly. Then he pulled 
out his hand quickly and threw the rat against the 
side of the house as hard as he could. 

And since then, no more little pigs have had their 
tails bitten off by this ugly rat. 



Chapter VII 


IT’S EASIER TO GET IN THAN OUT OF A 
HOLE 

B ILLY BERK was engaged in his favorite pas¬ 
time. His little nose was being thrust vigor¬ 
ously into the soil at the corner of the pen near 
his home. 

Billy’s house was a low building with a door not 
much larger than the big body of Billy’s mother. 
The floor of the hog house was raised off of the 
ground a little way and Billy had to jump when he 
entered. The door was so low that Farmer John had 
to get down on his knees when he wanted to enter. 

Right beside the hog house was a place where the 
water dripped when it rained and the soil had become 
very soft there. 

Billy had been rooting at this same spot for several 
days and had dug a deep hole. Every time it rained, 
the water would fill the hole and this made the earth 
soft at the bottom. After the water had evaporated 
enough for Billy to get down into the hole again, he 
had started digging. 

On this particular day about which this story is 
written, Billy was so far down in the ground that 
you could not have seen his little body at all. 



29 






3 ° 


BILLY BERK 



Suddenly, as Billy dug, he felt the earth giving 
more easily and finally his little head pushed into 
another hole. Billy had dug into the burrow of an 
animal that lives in the ground. 

Of course Billy did not know just what this hole 
was, but it was an opening wide enough for his body. 
So with many grunts, he crawled in. 

First, he poked in his nose and sniffed. Nothing 
unusual seemed to happen, so he put his head in a 
little farther and tried to see. But Billy could not 
see a thing. 

Then he stepped in with his front feet. There was 
plenty of room, but there was nothing to be seen, 
for inside it was as black as the inside of a stove pipe. 

Billy had an unusual curiosity and he could not 
refrain from going still farther into the hole. He 
stepped in with his hind feet. 

The hole seemed to be going toward the surface 
and Billy thought to himself, “Perhaps this leads out 
of the pen. Perhaps I can get to the corn field and 
find some nice corn.” 

So he kept walking until finally his little tough 
nose was thrust against something very hard. It was 
a stone that blocked his path. There was a way 
around it, for the hole made a sharp turn and the 
animal that lived in the hole was able to go around 
the stone easily. 

But Billy was not so agile. In fact, he was not 


IT IS EASIER TO GET IN THAN OUT 31 

accustomed at all to crawling through holes in the 
ground. His first thought when his nose touched 
the stone was to back out of the hole again and get 
into his own pen. 

He tried to back, but it was not so easy as he 
thought it would be. Billy’s little feet were not 
accustomed to moving his body in that direction. He 
brushed against the side of the hole, first on one side, 
and then on the other. He scraped dirt into his eyes 
and the more he tried to go backward, the more 
frightened he became. 

He hunched his back and twisted himself around 
until he filled the hole completely and was in such 
a position that he could hardly move. He squirmed 
and pushed and pulled and squealed, but he seemed 
to be stuck fast. 

Finally, just in front of him he saw two lights. 
Billy was still more frightened. The lights came 
closer until Billy began to realize that they were the 
shiny eyes of the animal that lived in the hole. 

Billy squealed and twisted, tugged and squirmed, 
but he stuck fast. Finally, the eyes came so close to 
Billy that Billy simply did not know what to do. 
The next he realized, something was scratching his 
face and all of a sudden something sharp had hold 
of his nose. 

Now Billy’s nose is so tough that the sharp teeth 
of the little animal that lived in the hole did not 



3 * 


BILLY BERK 



bother him very much, but the sharp claws that 
scratched his face did bother him. 

Finally, Billy, using all of his strength, pushed 
directly toward the animal and the animal began to 
make a noise, too. Between Billy’s squeal and the 
animal’s cries, there was a great commotion in the 
hole underneath the yard in which Billy lived. 

Fortunately, as Billy fought with the badger (for 
that is what the animal was) he worked himself 
backward in the hole near to the place where he had 
entered. Finally, he saw the light and he scrambled 
as quickly as he could into the hole he had at first 
dug and out into the yard. 

Running around in the yard squealing in his 
excitement, he attracted his mother and his little 
brothers and sisters until he had the entire family 
running around the yard. 

This attracted Farmer John and when he came 
he saw the excited family and, of course, tried to find 
out what had caused all the commotion. He finally 
saw the hole in the corner of the yard and just as 
Farmer John looked into it, Mr. Badger was looking 
out. 

Perhaps Farmer John will never know just exactly 
what happened to Billy, but he imagined that the 
badger had bitten him, and when he saw Billy’s face 
with all the scratches, he realized that Billy’s curi¬ 
osity had gotten him into trouble again. 




Chapter VIII 


A PILE OF STRAW THAT TURNED INTO A 

PIG 

T HE most enticing pile of clean bright straw lay 
on the ground on the shady side of the dairy 
barn. It was just the kind of straw that any 
little boy or girl would like to play in. It was the 
kind of straw that Old Spotty Cow liked to eat. 

Old Spotty Cow has four stomachs to fill, so she 
is always looking for food. 

When she saw that pile of clean bright straw on 
the shady side of the dairy barn, she went to help 
herself. 

My, but it was good! Old Spotty Cow munched 
it contentedly as she chased the flies from her white 
back with her long tail. 

Old Spotty Cow was black and white. But most 
of the black spots were on her sides. Her back was 
almost all white. Flies do not light on black spots 
when there are white spots near by. That is why 
Old Spotty Cow kept her long tail swishing over 
her white back. 

Old Spotty Cow didn’t mind the flies so much 
when she could have such bright clean straw to eat. 
So she munched away, never dreaming of the great 



33 


34 


BILLY BERK 


surprise that was soon to startle her almost out of 
her senses. 

She had just finished chewing a nice big mouth¬ 
ful of straw. She had swallowed it into her first 
stomach. She thrust her cold black nose deep into 
the pile of straw to get another mouthful. 

Without any warning, the straw flew up into her 
eyes. She jumped back. The pile of straw began 
to run away. As it darted off into the barn lot, 
there was a startled “Oe-eeeeeeeee.” 

Spotty Cow threw her head into the air, lifted her 
tail, and stood in amazement. Never before had she 
seen a pile of straw suddenly come to life. Never 
had she heard a pile of straw make a noise like a 
pig. As the straw rushed across the lot in a series 
of short jumps, it became smaller and smaller. At 
each jump, some of the straw fell to the ground. 

When the pile reached the water tank, it was black 
instead of yellow. When it reached the gate, it 
stopped and turned around. 

What do you suppose it was ? It was Billy Berk. 

After eating breakfast that morning, Billy had 
grown tired. He looked for a place to sleep where 
he would not be pestered by the flies. He also wanted 
a place where his six little brothers and sisters would 
not bother him. 

When one little pig lies down to sleep, all the other 
little pigs want to sleep on the very same spot. In 



A PILE OF STRAW TURNS INTO A PIG 35 

the summer, it isn’t at all comfortable to have six fat 
little Berkshires lying on top of you. 

So Billy had walked along the shady side of the 
dairy barn looking for a place to sleep. He had 
found the pile of clean bright straw and this appealed 
to him as just the right place for a nap. 

Billy Berk put his tough little nose under the edge 
of the pile and lifted it into the air. As he took a 
step ahead, the straw came down on his back. He 
put his nose under the straw again and walked a 
little farther. Finally, he was entirely covered. 

It was a wonderful place to sleep. The flies could 
not get under the straw, and his brothers and sisters 
couldn’t see him. 

Billy Berk slept soundly until Old Spotty Cow 
thrust her cold black nose right into his face. 

You can imagine how startled Billy was when he 
was wakened suddenly. He jumped to his feet and 
started to run. The straw was light and stuck to his 
back. Some of it covered his eyes. He couldn’t see 
where he was going, but he was so frightened that 
he didn’t care. 

When Billy had shaken all the straw from his back 
by his wild jumping, he discovered that it was his 
old friend, Spotty Cow, who had disturbed his nap. 

Old Spotty Cow had often helped Billy to get a 
good meal. When she spilled a part of her feed out 
of the feed box, she always let Billy pick it up. 



36 


BILLY BERK 


If some of the other pigs came to take part of it, 
Old Spotty Cow would put her nose under the little 
body and boost the pig so high that he would fall 
onto the other side of the manger. 

When Old Spotty Cow discovered that she had 
disturbed the nap of her little friend, she called to 
him. “MOO-oo-oo.” 

Billy trotted back to the barn. 

He knew that Old Spotty Cow wanted to do some¬ 
thing for him. She had called him that way before. 

He followed her out of the barnyard and into the 
long lane that led to the pasture. He followed her 
across the pasture to the north side. 

Just beyond the north fence was a corn field. Old 
Spotty Cow knew that an car of that corn would 
make Billy happy. But when she stretched her long 
neck across the fence, she found that she could not 
reach the corn. 

She leaned against the fence and stretched her 
neck farther. It seemed that it really became longer. 
Finally she found an ear that she could just touch 
with her cold black nose. But she could not get 
hold of it with her teeth. She pushed against the 
fence and stretched her long neck, but the ear was 
too far away. 

What do you think she did ? She stretched out her 
long tongue and wound it around the ear. Then she 
pulled it into her mouth until she could get hold of 


A PILE OF STRAW TURNS INTO A PIG 37 


it with her teeth. She jerked quickly, and the ear 
was pulled from the stalk. 

Old Spotty Cow backed away from the fence. She 
dropped the ear to the ground where Billy Berk 
could eat it. And that is the way she made amends 
for waking her little friend from his nap. 

I don’t think Billy was very sorry that he was 
wakened, do you? 












Chapter IX 


WHEN BILLY DISOBEYED 

B ILLY BERK was excited. He had made a 
wonderful discovery and he scampered off to 
his mother to tell her all about it. 

He was almost out of breath when he found her 
back of the corn crib, picking up the few scattering 
kernels of corn that had fallen through the cracks. 

“Mother, mother,” he shouted in pig language, “I 
have found a hole in the fence and I can crawl 
through it. It’s just big enough. It’s where you 
were rooting for roots yesterday.” 

Old mother Berkshire refused to get excited. “You 
better be content with this nice grassy lot of ours and 
not try to crawl through any fences,” she advised. 

“Something always happens to little pigs when 
they go outside of their own lot.” 

Billy was disappointed. He had never been out¬ 
side of the grassy lot and he wondered what he 
would see in the fields beyond. 

He walked slowly back to the hole in the fence. 
“Ugh,” he said, “I don’t believe anything would 
happen if I crawled through. I could crawl back 
again if anything should chase me.” 


38 


WHEN BILLY DISOBEYED 


39 


Now a little pig’s curiosity sometimes gets him 
into trouble the same as a little boy’s curiosity some¬ 
times tempts him to disobey his mother. 

Billy put his front feet on the fence and lifted his 
head as high as he could. He looked down the lane. 
He could see a corn field not far away. 

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go into that corn 
field,” thought Billy. “There wouldn’t be anything 
there to hurt me, and I could help myself to the 
corn.” 

Billy put his head through the hole. 

Before he had crawled all the way through, he 
remembered what his mother had said. 

“Something always happens to little pigs when 
they go outside of their own lot.” 

“Maybe mother knows best,” thought Billy, and 
he backed into the lot again. 

He walked away from the hole and began to eat 
clover, but he could not stop thinking about that hole 
in the fence. Somehow the clover did not taste good 
that morning. He wanted some of the corn in the 
field he had seen down the lane. 

“I could bring mother a nice ear of corn,” thought 
Billy, “and then she would be glad that I crawled 
through the hole.” 

And so Billy Berk crawled through the hole in 
the fence and ran as fast as his short legs would carry 
him till he came to the corn field. 




















4 o 


BILLY BERK 


My! It was so cool in the corn field, and the 
ground was so soft! Billy could root to his little 
heart’s content. 

But he didn’t find any corn. The ears were all so 
high on the stalks that he couldn’t reach them no 
matter how hard he tried. 

“Well, maybe there is an ear on the ground at 
the other end of the field,” thought Billy. So he ran 
down the row until he came to the other end of the 
field. But he did not find any corn. It was a lot of 
fun, though, to be out of the grassy lot and to be 
free to run and root just where he pleased. 

Billy wandered through the corn field for a long 
time. He stopped frequently to root in the nice soft 
earth. Finally he grew tired, and he lay down to 
rest. It was so warm that he fell fast asleep. 

When Billy Berk awoke, it was getting dark. 

Billy was frightened. He must hurry home. By 
now Farmer John would be feeding the family and 
if Billy was not there, he would not get his share. 
His six little brothers and sisters were so greedy that 
they would not leave a single drop for him. 

He started to run. Finally he came to the edge 
of the corn field, but he could not see the lane. 
Instead, there was a strange barn. He had gone the 
wrong way. 

Billy was lost. 

He turned around and dashed back into the corn 



When Billy came to the edge of the cornfield he 
saw a strange barn. 

41 






























4* 


BILLY BERK 


field. As he ran, he cried, “Oo-ee-ee, OO-ee-ee.” He 
thought again of what his mother had told him. 

“Something always happens to little pigs when 
they go outside of their own lot.” 

“Mother was right,” he thought, “and when I get 
back, I’ll never go away again.” And so he ran and 
cried, “Oo-ee, oo-ee, oo-ee.” 

Finally he came to the lane that ran along the 
grassy lot. He scrambled through the weeds at the 
edge of the corn field and ran down the lane as fast 
as he could. At every other step he said, “Ugh, ugh, 
ugh” in his high pitched voice. 

Very soon he came to the end of the lane. That 
surprised him. He must have passed the hole where 
he had crawled out. He whirled around and started 
back along the fence looking for the hole. 

“It’s funny,” thought Billy Berk, “where that hole 
is. It was so big I could see it easily from the inside 
of the grassy lot.” And so he ran frantically back 
to the other end of the lane. But he could not find 
the hole in the fence. 

Billy was worried. What would his mother say ? 
How would he get any supper ? 

His cries attracted his mother and she came run¬ 
ning to the fence. 

“Ugh, ugh,” said she, “You naughty pig. Didn’t 
I tell you to stay in the grassy lot? Now see what 
has happened to you. If you had stayed inside as I 


WHEN BILLY DISOBEYED 


43 


told you, you would have had your share of the nice 
fresh buttermilk Farmer John brought for our sup¬ 
per.” 

But Billy Berk did not stop to talk. He was so 
eager to get in that he ran along the fence squealing 
at the top of his voice and looking frantically for the 
hole. But the hole was not to be found. 

Farmer John had visited the lot that afternoon 
while Billy was asleep in the corn field. When 
Farmer John saw the hole, he drove a stake into the 
ground and stapled the wires to the stake so that the 
pigs could not crawl though. 

Poor Billy! He was nearly out of breath. 

When he got to the end of the lane, he crawled 
under the gate into the barn yard. 

He had not gone five steps when Bruno, Farmer 
John’s big Collie dog, came running around the cor¬ 
ner of the machine shed. 

When Bruno spied poor Billy, he barked and ran 
after him. Billy turned into the machine shed door, 
and ran under the grain binder. 

Bruno came after him. Bruno was too big to 
crawl under the binder, so Billy was safe for awhile. 
Billy did not want to stay there. He wanted to get 
back to the grassy lot. 

Finally Bruno went away, and Billy Berk crawled 
out of his hiding place and started around the end 
of the machine shed. He ran toward the grassy lot 


44 


BILLY BERK 


as fast as he could, but before he had passed the 
house, Bruno spied him again, and started after him. 
Billy ran at top speed, but the big dog had much 
longer legs, and he soon caught up to Billy. 

Billy squealed as loudly as he could, but Bruno 
took hold of Billy’s hind leg with his sharp teeth 
and held tight. 

Farmer John heard Billy Berk squealing and came 
running out of the house. He saw Bruno holding 
Billy by his hind leg, and he ran quickly to release 
him. 

Farmer John picked up Billy in his arms and car¬ 
ried him back to the grassy lot. As he dropped him 
inside the fence, Billy’s mother came running up 
grunting loudly. 

Billy was thoroughly ashamed of himself for dis¬ 
obeying, and he ran quickly to the hog house and 
crawled under the straw in the corner. 

Billy had no supper that night and that was his 
punishment for disobeying his mother—a very se¬ 
vere punishment, don’t you think, especially when 
there was nice fresh buttermilk for supper. 



Chapter X 


A MIRACLE SAVES BILLY’S LIFE 

I T WAS a hot day and Billy was restless. His 
brothers and sisters were all asleep in the clean, 
bright straw in the hog house, and his mother 
was asleep in a shady spot back of the house. 

Billy sniffed the air and wished that he could go 
some place where he had never been. He walked 
along the edge of the fence that bounded his grassy 
lot and put his nose under the barbed wire every 
little way to see if he could find a way to get out. 
Several times his nose was picked by the sharp barb 
on the bottom wire which Farmer John had placed 
there to keep Billy and other restless pigs from crawl¬ 
ing under the fence. 

Finally Billy stopped. He had found a nice, soft 
place in the earth and he began to root. You know, 
a little Berkshire pig’s nose is made for digging in 
the soil. It is very tough and has a sort of spoon or 
ridge on the end. 

Billy dug in the dirt just because he was restless. 
Ordinarily, he rooted to find roots to eat, but this 
day he was not hungry. 





















4 6 


BILLY BERK 


As he rooted, he realized that he was making 
rather a deep hole. He turned his face toward the 
fence and dug and dug until he had a hole half-way 
under the wire. 

Then a bright idea came to him. If he would keep 
digging, he could make a hole under the fence and 
when it was large enough he could crawl out. And 
this is just exactly what he did. 

When Billy was on the outside, he started up the 
lane away from the farm buildings. He wanted to 
have an adventure. Before the day was over, he had 
the most exciting adventure of his life. 

When he reached the end of the lane, he found 
the way blocked with a gate. But using his tough 
little nose again, he finally worked his way under 
the gate and was off down the long pasture. At the 
other end of the pasture, he found a hole in the wire 
through which he crawled. He walked and walked 
until finally he reached an old house. 

Many years before, some one had lived there, but 
it was uninhabited now. The windows were gone 
and the door stood open, held in place by only one 
rusty hinge. 

Billy was enjoying himself now. He was seeing 
something new. He walked all around the house 
and finally came to a window that opened into the 
cellar. Billy stood on the window ledge and tried 
to look in. It was very dark inside. He stepped a 



He wal\ed all around the old house and finally 
came to an open window. 


47 












4 8 


BILLY BERK 


little farther onto the window ledge and leaned over 
to try to see what was inside. 

Suddenly the brick on which he was standing 
gave way and tumbled into the cellar and Billy 
tumbled in right after it. 

There was a great splash, for the cellar was partly 
filled with water. Billy hardly realized what had 
happened. It all happened so suddenly. He knew 
that he was in a pool of water and he began to swim. 

Even though he was a very small pig, he could 
swim. All pigs can swim, when necessary, although 
they do not like to do it. 

Billy had to swim or sink. So he paddled his little 
feet as rapidly as he could until he finally touched 
something. It was so dark that he could not see 
where he was, but he worked his little feet rapidly 
and soon was on dry ground. 

He put his little nose against the side of the cellar 
wall, for he was still in the cellar. It seemed to be 
rather soft and Billy realized that it was not brick. 

Billy was so frightened that he didn’t make a 
sound. If any one had been near, they would not 
have known that Billy was there. Of course, way, 
way off in the pasture in this old abandoned house, 
no one would ever think of looking for a little pig. 
Billy did not really know in how much danger he 
was, but he did know that he was where he did not 
want to be. 




A MIRACLE SAVES BILLY’S LIFE 


49 


How to get out was a question he could not 
answer. He could see a faint light at one corner of 
the cellar. It was the window through which he 
had fallen. It was a long way from where he stood 
and the minute he tried to walk one way or the 
other, he stepped into water again. 

Apparently there was a pile of dirt on which Billy 
was standing and it was this that saved his life for 
the present. 

Billy’s adventure was not over. He stood still for 
a very long time resting and trying to think what he 
had better do. Finally it occurred to him that he 
could at least root against the dirt at the side and 
this might lead some place. 

He rooted with his tough nose for a short time 
and seemed to be making some headway. He had 
a hole dug big enough to admit his little body, when 
suddenly with a mighty push of his nose, the dirt 
gave way entirely and Billy realized that he was 
having another fall. 

Down, down, down he went, turning over and 
over as he fell, until finally with a thud Billy landed 
in water again. This time he was in a small recep¬ 
tacle and it was not easy to swim. As soon as he 
struck out with his little feet, he touched the sides 
of something solid. He apparently was inside of a 
pail or bucket. At any rate, he did not sink, for his 
hind feet touched the bottom of the receptacle. 






50 


BILLY BERK 


Strange as it may seem, Billy had fallen into a 
well. The well had been built very close to the side 
of the cellar and when Billy had dug the hole with 
his little tough nose, he had made an opening into 
the well, and had fallen down, down, down into 
the cold water. 

Billy was thoroughly frightened now. He could 
look up and see light above him, but it looked a long, 
long way off. He could think of no way that a little 
pig could go all of that distance straight up. 

Billy was so frightened that he could not even 
think of squealing. It would have done no good if 
he had. 

Billy stood there in the pail filled with water for 
a long time, until he finally became so cold that he 
began to shiver. He had given up all hope of ever 
getting out. 

Many times during this experience he had thought 
of his mother and his little brothers and sisters and 
of the nice fresh buttermilk that Farmer John would 
have ready for their supper. These thoughts did 
him no good, because he realized now that he would 
never see any of his family again. 

But a miracle was about to happen. Suddenly 
Billy felt the pail in which he was standing begin 
to lift out of the water. He aroused from his thoughts 
with a start and looked up. He could see nothing 
unusual, but the pail kept lifting. 







A MIRACLE SAVES BILLY’S LIFE 


5i 


Finally, it left the water entirely and went slowly 
higher and higher, proceeding toward the light 
above. 

Billy’s heart began to beat rapidly and he again 
began to have hope. Something was lifting him out 
of the well. Finally, he got so close to the top that 
he could see that someone was standing there turn- 
ing the handle that lifted the bucket out of the well. 

It was Farmer John. What a strange thing that 
Farmer John should be there and should have turned 
the handle that lifted the old bucket out of the well. 

But this was not more strange than that Farmer 
John should find in this bucket one of his favorite 
Berkshire pigs, Billy Berk. 

Now, I must explain to you that the reason 
Farmer John happened to be there was that he had 
gone into the pasture to look for one of his cows 
that had not come up to the barn with the rest of 
the herd. 

When he passed the old house, he was very warm 
and when he thought of the old well that was there, 
he decided he would have a drink of nice, cool water. 

But can you imagine his surprise when he lifted 
the bucket of water to the top, and found it full of 
Billy Berk? A bucket full of pig is an astonishing 
thing to draw out of a well. At any rate, this was 
the miracle that saved Billy’s life, 



Chapter XI 


A LITTLE PIG LOST IN THE WOODS 

O NE day in the fall, Billy, together with his six 
brothers and sisters was turned into the big 
woods pasture. The pigs had never been in 
this pasture before and they ran here and there find¬ 
ing new food and seeing new interesting places. 

When they reached the timber part of the pasture, 
they were all delighted, for under the very first tree 
they found acorns. 

Acorns are like candy to little pigs. They have a 
most delightful taste. So naturally, they were all 
very greedy and ate as many acorns as they could 
hold. 

Fortunately, there were plenty on the ground and 
no pig needed to fight for his share. 

Billy Berk ate so many that he became extremely 
tired. He lay down in the shade of one of the trees 
to sleep. He slept very soundly for a long time. 

When he awakened, he jumped up with a start. 
None of his brothers and sisters were in sight. He 
did not realize where he was. He had slept so 
soundly and his stomach was so filled with acorns 
that his memory had almost entirely left him. 



A LITTLE PIG LOST IN THE WOODS 53 

He started to run and, of course, he ran in the 
wrong direction. The farther he ran, the thicker 
the trees seemed to be. Brush and tall weeds were 
getting thicker and thicker and Billie could not see 
at all where he was going. 

As he ran, he saw many attractive things. He 
passed an old rotten log that offered the most enticing 
entertainment. How he would have liked to stop 
and root in this log and how many fine things he 
would have found to eat. 

But Billy was frightened. He could not hear a 
sound that was familiar to him. His little brothers 
and sisters were not in sight. He saw no pig what¬ 
ever. 

Billy was lost. He began to squeal. “Oo-ee-eee” 
and of course you know that meant, “Somebody 
come and find me.” But no one came and the far¬ 
ther Billy ran, the more excited did he become. 

Finally, he dropped to the ground in exhaustion. 
He was too tired to go any farther. He lay there, 
his little heart beating rapidly and his little mouth 
wide open. 

If you can imagine how you would feel if you 
were lost in a big woods, you will know just exactly 
how Billy felt, for he was just as frightened as you 
would be. 

He lay on the ground until he regained his breath 
sufficiently to go farther. But the farther he went, 


54 


BILLY BERK 


the more severe was his predicament, because he was 
going in the wrong direction. He was going far¬ 
ther away from home. 

All this time it was growing darker and darker, 
for it was at the close of the day. Finally it became 
so dark that Billy could not see more than a foot 
ahead. 

He came to a clump of bushes and underneath 
these bushes found rather a thick pile of dry leaves. 
This he thought would serve the purpose of a bed 
for the night. So, putting his little nose underneath, 
he crawled under the leaves until he was entirely 
covered. 

He lay there for a long time without sleeping, 
wondering just what would happen to him. But 
finally he went to sleep and did not awaken until 
the bright sun was peeking through the leaves of 
the trees. 

When Billy awakened, he shook the leaves from 
his back and looked around. He was even more 
bewildered than the day before. But he was not 
quite so frightened. His sleep had rested him and 
he was ready to travel again. 

So he set out. This time he stopped now and then 
to eat acorns or other tasty bits of food, but always 
trying to find his way out of the woods. 

Finally, he heard a familiar sound. It was a long, 
low “moo” and he recognized it as the voice of his 


A LITTLE PIG LOST IN THE WOODS 


55 


friend Spotty Cow. Billy started to squeal as loudly 
as he could squeal and ran in the direction of the 
familiar sound. 

Old Spotty Cow heard Billy’s call and she 
answered him and started toward him. When Billy 
finally saw her, he fell to the ground and lay there 
panting in his excitement. Old Spotty Cow licked 
him with her big, coarse tongue, and this soon 
revived him. Finally, he was ready to travel and Old 
Spotty Cow who was very familiar with the woods, 
led the way back to Billy’s home. 

While Billy appreciated the help Old Spotty Cow 
had given him, he was so delighted at being home 
again that he dashed off into the house as soon as 
he saw it and left Old Spotty Cow standing near the 
fence. 

Billy crawled under the nice white straw of his 
own bed and told himself that he would never go 
far away from home again. 



Chapter XII 


A QUEER TRAP EXCITES THE BARNYARD 

I VERY much doubt that any boy or girl who has 
never lived on a farm where pigs are raised 
would ever guess what this queer trap was. In 
fact, I don’t believe you will be able to guess what it 
was even after the story is explained to you, until you 
finally read the description of the trap. 

This exciting occurrence happened after Billy had 
grown to be a fairly large pig. He weighed 150 
pounds. Billy was in the grassy lot and had satisfied 
himself with the food Farmer John had brought. 
But he was wishing that he could be on the other 
side of the fence. Isn’t it strange that little pigs and 
little boys and girls always wish that they were 
somewhere else? 

Billy saw an attractive clover patch just through 
the fence and he opened his mouth and reached 
through the wire intending to bite off the clover. 
But when he tried to pull his nose back through the 
wire, he found that he was caught in a trap. 

Oh, what a terrible experience it was! He was 
fast. He could not get loose. He pulled and pulled 
and then he began to squeal. 


56 


A QUEER TRAP EXCITES THE BARNYARD 57 


He squealed as loudly as he could. In fact, it was 
the loudest squeal that Farmer John had ever heard 
Billy make. 

Billy’s brothers and sisters and his mother were 
the first to hear him. His mother now was living 
in another lot nearby, for Billy and his brothers and 
sisters were kept in a lot by themselves. They were 
big enough to look out for themselves. 

I doubt if his mother could have helped him much 
if she had been in the grassy lot. But she too began 
to squeal and grunt very loudly. In fact, all of the 
pigs that were close enough to see that Billy was 
caught in this terrible trap began to squeal. 

Such excitement! Old Spotty Cow on the other 
side of the fence saw that Billy was in trouble and 
began to moo. Farmer John’s dog, aroused by the 
noise, ran down the lane and when he got to where 
Billy was, he began to bark viciously. 

The dog was on one side of the fence. Billy was 
on the other and the more the dog barked, the more 
Billy squealed. And the more he squealed, the 
harder he pulled. And the harder he pulled, the 
tighter he was held by this terrible trap. 

Finally, Farmer John, hearing all the commotion, 
came to the fence. He saw at once what had hap¬ 
pened. He saw the terrible trap that was holding 







BILLY BERK 


Now wasn’t that a queer thing for Farmer John 
to do when he saw his favorite pig caught in a trap ? 
But when I explain to you what the trap was, per¬ 
haps you will laugh, too. 

Little pigs have some long teeth on the bottom 
jaw. When Billy had reached through the fence to 
bite the clover, he had taken one of the wires of the 
fence into his mouth. And when he had tried to 
pull his nose back through the fence, the long teeth 
on his bottom jaw caught in one of the wires of the 
fence. 

As soon as Billy began to pull, the wire tightened 
and held him fast. As long as Billy pulled back¬ 
ward, the fence (which is all there was to the trap) 
held him tight. 

That is why Farmer John laughed. If Billy had 
only known enough to step forward and drop his 
lower jaw, he would not have been fast at all. 

So Farmer John climbed over to Billy and getting 
behind him, pushed with all his might. Billy re¬ 
sisted, because he did not know what Farmer John 
was trying to do. Finally, however, Farmer John 
pushed him far enough forward so that the wire 
was released. 

Do you wonder that Billy felt rather ashamed of 
himself for getting caught in such a simple trap as a 
wire fence? 





Chapter XIII 


BILLY MAKES A RAILROAD TRIP 

B ILLY had grown to be quite a large pig. He 
weighed nearly 300 pounds. Still he was not 
quite a year old. Pigs, you see, reach their full 
weight in much less time than people do. Billy had 
grown larger than any of his brothers or sisters. 

One morning, Farmer John closed the door to 
Billy’s house, leaving Billy inside. Billy did not like 
the idea very well, for he did not know just what was 
going to happen. 

After a time, Farmer John opened the door again 
and Billy walked to the opening to look out. What 
do you suppose he saw ? There in front of the door 
was a crate so arranged that when Billy stepped out 
of the door, he stepped right into the crate. 

The crate was just about big enough to hold a pig 
like Billy and after he once got in, there was no way 
of getting out. Billy did not go in. He turned 
around and walked back to the other side of his 
pen. Farmer John then threw an ear of corn into 
the crate and called to Billy. But Billy was suspi¬ 
cious. He stayed in the far corner of his pen. 
Finally, Farmer John had one of his men get into 


59 


BILLY BERK 


<60 

the pen with Billy and Billy was driven out of the 
door into the crate. Then Farmer John quickly 
dropped a door that fitted into the back of the crate 
and Billy was ready for a long trip on the train. 

It was very close quarters. Billy could not turn 
around. The only thing he could do was lie down. 
He could not walk forward; he could not back up. 

He was in the crate for only a short time when 
Farmer John came with the automobile truck and, 
with the aid of three other men Billy was lifted into 
the truck. He could not see just where he was going, 
because the sides of the truck hid everything. 

Finally, the truck stopped and Billy was unloaded 
at the railroad station. In a little while, the train 
came along. The big, black puffing engine fright¬ 
ened Billy very much. He had never seen such a 
terrible thing before. 

The trainmen lifted Billy into the express car and 
the train started. It was a long ride, but finally the 
train reached its destination. Billy was unloaded 
from the car onto a truck on the railroad platform. 
Another automobile truck then took him to the 
Union Stockyards in Chicago, for Chicago was the 
destination of the train on which Billy had his first 
railroad ride. 

Billy could see through the sides of his crate and 
he saw many other pigs in large pens. There were 





















































BILLY MAKES A RAILROAD TRIP 


61 


red pigs and white pigs, and black pigs and pigs with 
big white bands just back of their shoulders. 

Billy’s crate was taken out of the automobile truck 
and the gate at the back of the crate was opened and 
a man with a stick poked Billy on the nose. When 
Billy backed up to get away from the stick, he found 
that the gate was removed and he backed out. Three 
men with hurdles were close by and they directed 
Billy’s route until he finally found himself going up 
a long incline and into a pen on the second floor of 
a big building. 

Perhaps you know that the stockyards receive 
thousands and thousands of pigs each year. There 
the pigs are butchered and the meat we eat is cured 
and shipped to us wherever we may live. But this 
was not to be Billy’s fate. 

He was such a high-class pig that Farmer John 
had shipped him to the International Livestock Ex¬ 
position. This is a show held at the Union Stock- 
yards every year where prizes are offered for the 
best pigs, the best cows, the best sheep, and the best 
horses. Billy was to be judged along with other pigs 
to determine which one was the best and a valuable 
prize was offered for the champion. 

As Billy lay in his pen, many people passed. In 
other pens near to him were other pigs. On one side 
were Berkshires; just opposite across a narrow aisle 
were white pigs. These are Chester Whites. In a 


62 


BILLY BERK 


pen not far away were some black pigs with white 
bands around their bodies just back of their front 
legs. These are called Hampshires. 

A little farther away was a pen containing a very 
large red hog with a very long nose. Billy’s nose, you 
know is short. In fact, a little Berkshire’s head very 
much resembles the head of a Boston bulldog with 
short upturned nose and erect ears. The red pig with 
the long nose is called Tamworth. 

All of these pigs were to be judged and finally 
Billy was taken out of his pen and driven into what 
is called the judging ring. There, several men looked 
over all of the pigs to select the ones that were to be 
given the prizes. 

Billy did not relish the idea very much. The prize 
did not interest him. As a matter of fact, he did not 
know that prizes were to be offered. 

The first time he was in the judging ring he was 
in company with other Berkshire pigs and when he 
left the ring, Farmer John had a big blue ribbon in 
his hand. Billy had been awarded first prize in his 
class. That is, he was judged to be the best pig 
under one year old of all the Berkshire pigs of that 
age in the show. 

The next day Billy was brought back to the ring 
again. This time he was in company with other 
Berkshire pigs, but they were all larger than he. 
They were pigs of different classes that had won first 



BILLY MAKES A RAILROAD TRIP 63 


prize and the prize they were being judged for this 
time was the championship of all Berkshires. 

Billy’s smooth, round body, his fine bone and his 
soft skin, together with other characteristics, again 
won him the prize. This time Farmer John walked 
out of the ring with a big purple ribbon in his hand. 
A purple ribbon represents the championship prize. 

Of course, Farmer John received some prize money 
in addition to the ribbon. The ribbon was simply 
the indication of the prizes won. 

The next day Billy was taken into the judging ring 
for the third time. This time he was in company 
with pigs of all other breeds. He was the only Berk¬ 
shire. The judges looked over the lot to find out 
which was the best male hog in the entire show. 

There was the big red long-nosed Tamworth. 
There was another red pig, too. The name of his 
breed is Duroc Jersey. Then there was a black pig 
with ears that lopped down over his eyes. The name 
of his breed is Poland China. There was a Hamp¬ 
shire with a white band around his body; a Chester 
White; and a very long white pig with a long nose. 
The name of his breed is Yorkshire. 

The judges all seemed very pleased with Billy’s 
appearance. They looked him over carefully on all 
sides and then looked at the other pigs. They always 
came back to Billy and finally it was decided by all 
three of the judges that Billy was to receive the 



6 4 


BILLY BERK 


grand champion prize. Billy was the best hog of 
any breed in the show. 

Farmer John again received a big purple ribbon 
and a larger money prize. Billy was put back into 
his pen to be admired by all of the people who 
passed. Hanging over the pen on a board, Farmer 
John had arranged the three ribbons Billy had won: 
the blue ribbon for first prize, and the two purple 
ribbons for championship and grand championship 
prizes. 

What more could a pig want than to win all of 
these prizes in this, the largest of all the livestock 
shows ? 

In spite of all this winning, however, Billy felt no 
different. In fact, he would have preferred to have 
stayed at home and he wished even at the time he 
was being judged to be the best hog in the show 
that he was back in the grassy lot. 












